Transmutation blanket

Typical heat production in the moderator-fuel blanket is 750- 1500 MW. The excess heat is used to generate electricity that helps to pay for the operation of the facility. The transmuted material will have 20% of the original plutonium and minor actinides of the input material and will contain significant fission product activities. This transmuted material can be put into geologic storage, reducing the long-term hazard of the repository material. The overall feasibility of this accelerator transmutation of waste (ATW) has not been established yet. 

Fig. 7.4. The proton beam strikes the lead target generating neutrons which are moderated in the surrounding heavy water blanket. Molten salt carrying fissile material for heat generation and electric power production circulates in the heavy water blanket through double-walled pipes. Some of this power drives the accelerator. Nuclear waste including that produced in the molten salt is also circulated through the blanket in a separate loop and transmuted to stable and short-lived nuclides which are extracted and...

Calculation of the total amount of transmuted He was carried out by Noda At the first wall region of the solid breeding blanket, the HelApa ratio is predicted to be 100 appm/dpa, Sawan and El-Guebaly also indicated production ratios of 80-170 appm f/e/dpa and 30-70 appm H/dpa at the peak radiation regions of the first wall for various blanket concepts. 

In accordance. .. substances ibid., p. 622. The balance of the application seems to concern a rough early conception of a thermonuclear fusion reactor of the Shiva type with a blanket for breeding heavy-element transmutations ... 

LANL (1999) Roadmap for the development of accelerator transmutation of waste target and blanket system... 

Fast reactors including the MBRU-12 could solve the problem of providing a sustainable power supply for a long time due to the possibility of transmuting uranium-238 to plutonium-23 9. The MBRU-12 is characterized by a high level of fuel utilization achieved by the introduction of the internal, radial and axial blankets for breeding of fissile materials. 

It is possible to use the SVBR reactor as a sub-critical blanket of a proton accelerator driven system for transmutation of long-lived radioactive waste [XIX-10]. 

The neutron spectrum of the Super FR is compared with those of LWRs and the sodium cooled fast reactor in Fig. 1.56. The blanket assemblies of the Super FR are equipped with zirconium hydride layer for the negative coolant void reactivity. The spectrum near the layer is similar to that of LWRs. Both fast and thermal neutron spectra are available in the Super FR. Availability of both will be suitable for the transmutation of long-lived fission products as well as minor actinides [95,96]. The improved core design for the high power density was reported [87]. 

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